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Monday, August 27, 2012

Kenyan cleric shot dead, sparks riots in Mombasa

Hundreds of protesters smashed cars and vandalised at least
four churches in the Kenyan city of Mombasa on Monday after unknown gunmen shot
dead a Muslim cleric accused by the United States of helping Islamist militants
in neighbouring Somalia.

Aboud Rogo Mohammed, who the United States accused of
advocating the radicalisation and recruitment of non-Somali Africans by the al
Shabaab militant group, was shot dead on Monday and buried shortly afterwards.

Rogo was facing charges of planning acts of terror and
importing illegal weapons.

"He was driving in a personal car with other four other
occupants. Unknown gunmen attacked his vehicle ... sprayed it with bullets and
killed him on the spot," Robert Kitur, deputy police chief for the region
said.

"They must have been targeting him, and must have been
trailing him for a while."

Kenyan police fired rubber bullets in the air and teargas to
disperse protesters in Mombasa, Kenya's main port city and a popular tourist
destination. The city has a high population of Muslims.

Hundreds of protesters stoned cars along the main highway
linking Mombasa to Mali, another tourist town, and burnt tyres to prevent cars
from using the road.

They smashed their windscreens and headlamps, chanting
slogans in Arabic before they were dispersed with teargas.

Others vandalised at least four churches on the outskirts of
the city, breaking chairs and turning an altar upside down.

Shops in Mombasa were shuttered as armed police patrolled
streets usually full of shoppers and foreign tourists as many people barricaded
themselves indoors.

The protesters blamed police for the killing of Rogo.

"These are police who have killed our innocent Sheikh.
They have shot him dead. They imposed on him terrorism charges, arrested and
charged him, now they fear the court will release him, and have decided to end
his life," Suleiman Athman, a Muslim youth taking part in the
demonstration, said.